Keeping Hogwarts Safe
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: Neville is approached by Hannah, Ginny, and Luna on the Hogwarts Express; the three girls are concerned about making sure that the younger students don't get hurt under Headmaster Snape's new reign.


Neville breathed out, letting his head rest against the no longer soft cushions of the seat he was sitting in, compartment door shut tightly in an effort to block out the sounds of childish yells coming from some of the younger students outside of his compartment.

Instead, Neville focused on tracing patterns into the mahogany backing of his seat with a quill, wondering, if he were to write his name on the bottom of his seat, would it eventually ever be found, or would his mark be lost to all in time except for him?

Neville sighed, letting the quill slip from between his fingers as the compartment door slid open, letting in Hannah Abbott, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood; the three girls gathered on the seat across from Neville, almost in an confrontational manner.

The seventeen year old let out another heavy breath and pushed himself up, changing positions in his seat so that he was now sitting upright, giving the three girls an inquisitive look.

No one spoke however, and for an indefinite amount of time, the three girls and one boy were left to just look at each other; a tense silence hung over them, though Neville could not quite explain why the silence had any need to be tense.

Tense silences, he thought to himself absent-mindedly, were usually reserved for bad news, and as far as Neville was concerned, the news could only get worse if his friends had arrived to tell Neville that Grindlewald himself was back, fighting side by side with the Dark Lord and his giant snake, and they had just killed Harry Potter only hours ago.

But as far as Neville knew, the worst that had happened on their journey to Hogwarts was that the train had been delayed for over an hour while Death Eaters ransacked the place looking for people who refused to be found: muggleborns, undercover Order members, and, of course, the _Boy-Who-Lived _and his associates, all three of whom had been marked as extremely dangerous and likely to attack at the slightest provocation, according to the Ministry.

The compartment Neville was currently residing in still showed signs of the rather violent rummaging that had taken place as cloaked figures trashed Neville's belongings in the hopes for some sort of sign that would point them in the right direction to locate Harry.

Neville had not yet bothered to finish repacking and so his belongings still remained strewn about the tensely silent compartment that he was sharing with the three quiet females.

"You know what this means, right, Neville? They aren't above attacking us on the way to _school_, bullying and shoving little children all to intimidate us and remind those of us likely to rebel that _they're _the ones in charge and we are not. So I ask you, Neville Longbottom, what do we do now?" Ginny gave him a hard look that threw Neville for a loop.

Was he in charge now, was that the truth of it? Without Harry, Hermione, and Ron to make all of the decisions and start all the revolutions at school, were people really going to look to _him_, Neville Longbottom, of all people?

There was a thing that Neville had once heard, listening in on one of his grandmother's conversations at the kitchen table with her old friends when Neville was meant to be taking a nap, but had instead laid outside and listened to the older people chat.

"Paint me a picture where children don't fight the battles of their parents, and I'll tell you that war is still trembling here," one of Gran's friends had said, and Neville had not understood what she meant by that at the time, attributing it to just the eccentrics of those who hung out with Augusta Longbottom.

He still wasn't really sure that meant, but Neville knew that, soon enough, a war would be on their doorsteps, and if they weren't prepared fast enough, then plenty of people would be hurt; but that didn't mean that he was ready to _lead _children to a war.

"We _have _to start the D.A. up again," Ginny said determinedly, crossing her arms, and the other two girls nodded in agreement. "We have to be ready for anything that might happen this year, especially if we're going to have a _known _Death Eater for a Headmaster and probably some more Death Eaters or sympathisers in the roles of teachers. If kids don't realise that there _is _an alternative to all of this anti-muggle and anti-muggleborn propaganda, then they might make the wrong decision when the moment to fight finally comes on us."

"Y-You don't necessarily know that there might _be _any war. It could be ages before Harry comes back, and m-maybe things will be fine at school," Neville mumbled, though he _knew _he was being impractical and ridiculous. Things could _only _end up in war eventually, and to think otherwise was entirely ridiculous.

"Nev, I know you think you can't lead us like Harry does, or get people to listen to you like Hermione, or even encourage people like Ron, but our only hope of getting anyone to work with us if we have people in charge who the other students can follow after. People _like _you, Nev, they _trust _you, because you're kind and friendly and everyone knows you're willing to help, no matter the problem." Hannah was giving him a pleading look.

"We could do this without you, Neville, if we absolutely have to," Ginny added in a firm tone, "but if you say yes, then there is so much more that we can do, because the younger kids _will _follow you if you ask them to. Trust me, even if it doesn't feel like you have leadership skills, you _do_."

"We're here to help people," Luna finished, her big, blue eyes making Neville feel unsettled yet at the same time calm in the way that only Luna could manage. "We're here to make sure that Hogwarts is safe for _everyone_, no matter who they are. And none of us can do it," she waved her hand at the three of them, which made Ginny scowl though she made no attempt to correct Luna, "since everyone is scared of Ginny, Hannah is much too shy and polite to yell at anyone, and everyone thinks I'm flighty and off."

"No one thinks you're flighty," Hannah said quietly, but Luna only shrugged, replying that she knows it's what everyone thinks and she's given them any sort of reason to think otherwise.

"So, Neville?" Ginny finally asked, turning back to look at him, brown eyes sparkling with determination. "Are you going to help us bring the D.A. back and keep the younger students safe?"

Neville sat there for a second, wondering what Harry or Hermione or even Ron might have done in this sort of situation, how they would have handled this. And then he knew his answer, the only one he could have honestly given Ginny.

"Of course I'll help. Like Luna said, it's our _job _and our _duty _to keep Hogwarts safe. Harry, Ron, and Hermione would _want _us to keep running the D.A., and it's the only real way to make sure that the Carrows and Snape don't _kill _anyone. Of course I'll help lead you the D.A."


End file.
